UA music service planned for fall

Illegal music downloading may become a thing of Penn's past.

The Undergraduate Assembly passed a proposal last night that members say will allow students to download music for free legally by next fall, pending administrative approval.

Students would have access to the online music subscription service Ruckus with their Penn e-mail addresses, assuming Provost Ron Daniels approves the plan.

It would be possible to download an unlimited number of songs.

The files will play on the computer where downloaded, but will not be burnable to a CD or transferable to iPods or other portable digital music devices.

If a student wants to transfer music to MP3 players compatible with Windows Media Player 10 -- which do not include iPods -- they can purchase the To-Go feature for $15 per semester.

The service will not be compatible with Macintosh computers or iPods because Apple does not license out their technology for use with any subscription service.

According to a UA survey conducted last year, 94 percent of students who said they wanted a music service were PC users.

The University would not pay any fees for student downloading. Ruckus' revenue comes solely from advertising and optional services, like movies and the To-Go feature.

"It's free for all students and it's not coming from student fees," College sophomore and UA co-chairman of Student Life Sunny Patel said.

For a fee of $20 a semester, students can choose to have access to unlimited downloads from Ruckus' movie database. Movie downloads will also be accessible only on the computer where they are downloaded and will not be burnable onto DVDs.

By the end of the spring, Ruckus will be in use at about 50 universities across the country. One other Ivy League university is currently considering a similar deal with Ruckus, but it cannot be disclosed because their negotiations are underway.

Student leaders expect that the music service will not only curb illegal downloading but will be a safer option for students.

"Why wouldn't you use Ruckus? ... It's legal and safe," Patel said, referring to the spyware and potential viruses that can infect computers when downloading music with file-sharing programs such as Kazaa or Limewire.

Some students indicated that the service would offer students incentive to only download legal music.

"It's a nice idea in light of the recent controversies over students being sued for downloading music," said College sophomore Lauren Jones, who currently pays for all of her music downloads from Apple's file-sharing service iTunes.

Over 1,000 students across the country have been sued by the Recording Industry Association of America over illegal file-sharing.

Patel and Karsh said that they picked Ruckus over other music subscription options because it was the only service that would be completely free for students.

Patel said that the UA had considered several other services, but Ruckus recently improved the media player used to listen to downloaded songs. This, Patel said, made Ruckus a better option.

Ruckus offers about 1.5 million total tracks for download and also sells individual tracks that can be burned to a CD or transferred to an MP3 player.

After the subscription expires at the end of each academic year, music downloads will become inaccessible following a one month grace period. For a fee of $10, students can continue their subscription throughout the summer.

Alumni and faculty can subscribe to the service for $5 per month.

If the provost approves the plan, Patel said that University technology personnel will have to make sure that Ruckus is compatible with the University servers.

Since the service is free, Karsh said, he does not forsee any opposition from the provost's office.

If the plan goes through, Penn would be one of the first large universities to use Ruckus, Karsh said.

"We'd be one of the headliners," he said.

UA Chairwoman and College senior Rachel Fersh said finalizing the plan meant achieving one of her major goals as the body's leader.

"All year the UA has been working on things that improve student life on Penn's campus," she said. "This is a phenomenal example of that."

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